uninvited ghost getting their
dining room walls bloody.
The spirit, a female, with dark flowing hair, in her early thirties, stopped in midswing
and stared directly at Kylie. You kill or be killed. It’s really rather simple. The words reverberated in Kylie’s head. They were communicating telepathically, and
considering the topic being discussed, that was probably for the best.
That’s not simple, Kylie shot back. And I’m trying to eat, so would you mind leaving?
That’s rude, the ghost said. You’re supposed to help spirits. You need to abide by your guidelines.
Kylie twisted the cloth napkin she’d placed in her lap. Okay, was there something
written in the rule books about a ghost whisperer having to be polite to obnoxious
spirits?
Oh, wait, she didn’t have a freaking rule book, or guidelines. She was winging it.
Winging everything, in fact: ghost whispering, being a supernatural, being someone’s
girlfriend.
Being someone’s ex-girlfriend!
Lately it felt as if she was winging her whole damned life, and making a fine mess
of things, too. Like her decision to leave Shadow Falls, the camp/recently turned
boarding school for paranormal teens. It had felt like the right thing to do at the
time.
Had.
She’d been here at the chameleon’s compound less than two weeks, and she wasn’t so
sure anymore.
True, she’d had a good reason to come—to discover more about her paranormal heritage.
To get to know Malcolm Summers, her grandfather, and her great-aunt Francyne.
Months after learning she wasn’t all human, she’d finally discovered she was a chameleon,
a rare species that had gone into hiding after an organized unit of the paranormal
government, the Fallen Research Unit, the FRU, had used them as lab rats to try to
explain their abilities. Kylie’s own grandmother had died as a result. And now the
same branch of the FRU wanted to take Kylie in for testing. That was so not happening!
However, Kylie’s main motivation for leaving Shadow Falls didn’t have anything to
do with the FRU, or with finding out about her heritage. Nope. It had everything to
do with running away.
Running away from Lucas, the werewolf she’d fallen in love with. The werewolf who
had promised his soul to another werewolf and expected Kylie to believe it meant nothing.
How could he have done that? How could he have kissed Kylie with all that passion
for the last month, yet every time he went to his dad’s house, he was seeing that
girl? How could Kylie stay at Shadow Falls and continue to face him?
The problem was, she might have run away from Lucas, but she’d brought the heartbreak
with her. And now, she wasn’t just hurting over a certain werewolf; she was hurting
because … every cell in her body missed Shadow Falls. Okay, so maybe not really Shadow
Falls, but she missed the people. Friends who had become as close as family: Holiday,
the fae camp leader, who was like a big sister. Burnett, the stern vampire, the other
camp leader who was a friend and sort of a father figure wrapped into one. Her two
roommates, Della and Miranda, who’d felt abandoned by Kylie when she left. And Derek,
who’d vowed his love to her, even when he knew she loved Lucas.
Oh God, she missed everyone so much. Amazingly, she was only a few miles away from
Shadow Falls, tucked away in a secluded spot in what Texans referred to as the Hill
Country, and yet it might as well have been across the world.
Sure, she’d spoken to Holiday every day. At first, her grandfather had refused her
this right, but her aunt had insisted he see reason. He’d relented, but only if she
used a certain phone and kept the conversations very short, so the calls couldn’t
be traced. And by no means could Kylie tell anyone where she was.
Because of the camp’s affiliation with the FRU, her grandfather didn’t trust anyone
at Shadow Falls. And his distrust only added to Kylie’s feelings
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